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8.13.2015

LIVING ROOM/FOYER BEFORE AND AFTER

Well, well, well, summer seems to have come and almost gone.  
 While I was an absentee blogger, I did mange to squeeze in some design work.
I started a fun project back in the winter, 
and wrapped it up just in time for a big Memorial Day weekend party. 
The project entailed designing a casual living room for a young family.

This was a repeat client.  I shared the plans for their foyer here
When I photographed the finished living room, 
I was finally able to take some "after" photos of the foyer space too.

After a few minor revisions, our design plan looked like this......


This is what the room looked like when before we got started.....


And this is the finished product..... 


Another before shot...


And after...


This corner needed just a few minor updates.


An accordion sconce and some framed photos of local attractions.


The room lacked overhead lighting.
So we added matching lamps and a console to another corner of the room.


A floor lamp in the opposite corner of the room helps provide a little extra light.


One more look at the room before.



Quite a transformation, right!


This was the plan for the foyer and upstairs landing area.


It previously looked like this....


And now......


 They just recently had the banister painted black.  I love it!


We added a modern light to the foyer. 



My clients already had some amazing photos from their travels.  
We had a few enlarged and hung them on the wall in the stairway landing. 


We added some framed family photos to the upstairs landing. 


The wall color is BM Revere Pewter.  One of my all time favorites. 


 School starts next week.  I love summer and I love my kids, but I also love me some peace and quiet.  
I can't quite seem to gather my thoughts amongst all the chaos of three kids being home all summer. 
Starting next week, my thoughts shall be gathered. 
Which may translate into more blog posts. 

6.01.2015

SUMMER E-DESIGN SPECIAL

We have two days left in the school year.   I am looking forward to a laid back and fun summer.  
We have done quite a bit of traveling this year, so we will most likely be sticking close to home this summer.  With not much on the schedule, I am planning to continue working through the summer.  However, with three kids at home, my flexibility is pretty limited.  
I love working on e-designs and it offers me the flexibility of working from home 
and setting my own hours.  

I am offering a summer e-design special rate.  I will still be doing a limited about of local consultations.  If you are interested in booking an appointment,  you can contact me here.

Here are a few examples of my e-design work. 










SUMMER E-DESIGN RATES
Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen/Bedroom/Office/Playroom:  $200
Bathroom/Foyer:  $150

E-design includes the following:
Suggested room layout (if necessary)
Suggested furniture, paint colors, lighting, window treatments, wall art and accessories
All sources for items and any special notes needed to complete the design will be included

50% deposit will be due upon booking the e-design.
The remaining 50% will be due upon delivery of the e-design.
Rates are good for all e-designs booked through the end of August, 2015. 

If you are interested in purchasing an e-design, please contact me here.

I will hopefully be back later this week to post some "after" pictures of a project I recently completed.
I love a good before and after post, don't you?

Have a great week!


5.01.2015

RUG ADDITIONS

Thank you so much for all the kind words on my post last week.  
Not sure how this week slipped by me, but here it is Friday and we have a jam packed, fun filled weekend ahead of us.  My parents are coming in town to visit and to watch the school talent show, several basketball games and a baseball game.  They don't know it yet, but they might even get to babysit while we sneak away for a neighborhood derby party. 

I delivered one last load of items to a home today 
that I've been working on for the past couple of months.  
I'll share some before and afters very soon. 

Since I don't have any work to share this week, 
I thought I'd show you a couple of new rugs I picked up at Bargains and Buyouts last Fall.  


First up, this navy and cream dhurrie rug.  
I was shopping with a friend and we picked up this one, 
which was originally for her daughter's room.
When she got it home, her daughter wasn't a fan, so I bought it from her.  
It works perfectly in the boys' room. 
Technically, it's just one boy's room now.  My older son moved to the bedroom on the third floor so he could have his own space.  However, he waffles back and forth between sleeping with his little brother and sleeping all alone in his own room.  It's kind of sweet.


There was quite a bit of wide open floor space in this room, so the rug helps break it up a bit. 


My memory fails me, but I think I picked this orangey/rust colored dhurrie up the same day.  
It works great in the hallway leading from our bedroom to our bathroom.


The best part, each rug was under $50.  
You can check out some of my other Bargains and Buyouts finds here and here

I hope you all have a joyous weekend. 
It's going to be sunny and in the 70s here this weekend and I get to spend it with family and friends.  
Doesn't get much better than that!

4.22.2015

I BET YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONE FOR GOOD

I realize I fell off the blogging wagon.  Here's the reason why......

Around 5:00 a.m. on December 1, 2014, after just returning home from celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, the phone rang.  When the phone rings at 5:00 a.m., it's never good.  My husband answered the phone and I immediately sat straight up in bed.  He said, "it's your sister" and he handed me the phone.  She proceeded to tell me, in a fairly calm manner, that my mom had fallen down a flight of stairs at home and she was in the emergency room.  She didn't have much more information and told me she would call me back soon.  I didn't panic at first, because my sister didn't seem to be panicking.  About five minutes later, she called back, this time, with panic in her voice, she told me that our mom had stopped breathing briefly and they were going to life flight her to a bigger hospital 45 minutes away.  I jumped up, stuffed a few random things in a bag and called my dear friend, Lisa.  Through tears, I explained to her what had happened and asked her to come over and make the 3.5 hour drive to the hospital with me.  I didn't know at the time what was going on or what was going to happen to my mom  I wanted my husband to stay home with the kids in case they needed him.  Lisa, being the amazing friend she is, didn't even hesitate. She threw on some clothes and was at my house within 10 minutes.

During the long drive, my sister called with updates.  My mom had been transported to a larger hospital, she had a breathing tube in and was unconscious in the ICU. We made it to the hospital in record time.  When I first saw my mom, lying in that bed, unconscious, hooked up to all kinds of machines and tubes, I lost it.  I was not at all prepared to see her like that.  For the next three days, she remained unconscious.  The only thing the doctors could tell us is that she sustained a serious brain injury from the fall.  They felt confident that she would eventually come to, but they could not say when.  We kept a constant vigil around my mom.  She has a big family and so does my dad.  Family and friends were there everyday, praying over her.  My sister, my dad and my brother all took turns sleeping in the ICU room with her.  

After three days, she began to come to very slowly.  She first started to move her fingers a little and then she began to mumble a bit.  Over the next few days, she was able to say a few things, most of them not making sense, but the doctors still saw it as progress.  She did not open her eyes for more than a couple seconds at a time during this time.  She was eventually moved to a regular room and slowly made more progress. After about a week, she was transferred to a rehab facility.  She went through intense physical, occupational and speech therapy for three weeks.  She finally came home on New Year's Eve day.

My sister and I spent many days/nights at my parents' home during the months of January and February.  We would each take a shift of a few days at a time.  Back at home, our friends and loved ones were so very generous to pitch in and help with our children, bring our family meals, and offer their love and support.  I was truly amazed by the generosity and kindness that was shown to our family during this time.


My mom has no recollection of the fall, the hospital stay, the rehabilitation or the first couple months of being at home.  Her long term memory is pretty good, but she has trouble with her short term memory.  Physically, she is doing very well.  She is exercising, cooking and socializing with friends and family.  Her vision was affected by the fall and she has not been able to return to work or drive yet.  She was a big golfer and hopes to be able to play again.


When all this happened, my mom was my main concern, of course.  Everything else kind of came to a halt.  We did celebrate Christmas, but it was very bittersweet without my mom there.  I did my best to hold it together for my kids' sake, but caring for my mom and helping out my dad really took a toll on all of us.  Homework sometimes didn't get completed, laundry piled up, and we had cereal for dinner on many nights.  Thankfully we all survived and and my mom is on the mend.

Over the past couple of months, I have gotten back in to my old routines at home - constantly chauffeuring children around town, volunteering at school and squeezing in some design work.
As a matter of fact, before my mom's accident, I managed to tackle some big projects around the house too.  I do so enjoy decorating my own home and helping others make their homes beautiful.
Soon, various projects that have been taking up a good amount of my time will be coming to and end and I am making a commitment to work more.  With summer right around the corner, e-designs are going to be keeping me busy.  I promise to be back soon to share some progress shots from around here, several designs I have worked on recently and an e-design special offer.

I can't tell you how appreciative I am for all the emails I received inquiring about my mom or just simply checking in.  They meant a lot to me. This blog has been such a great outlet for me over the past few years.  I'm just not ready to give up on it.

11.17.2014

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

I am not normally one to rush into Christmas.  
Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday and I like to give it its due respect.  
However, this year, with the first big snowfall coming on November 17th (YIKES!), 
I might be able to get into the Christmas spirit a little earlier.


Especially since I am, once again, joining the Twelve Days of Christmas Tour of Homes 
with these fabulous bloggers.......


It all starts on December 1st.  Being a slacker, I requested to be the last one on the tour.  
On December 16th, we hope you will all link up your Holiday Home Tour. 

Before I go digging through Christmas decor and dragging out the mistletoe, 
I had better locate all the snow gear.  Looks like we're going to be needing plenty of it this year. 

11.13.2014

EVERYTHING BUT THE HOUSE AND ROOM DESIGN BOARD GIVEAWAY

I am excited to offer a giveaway from Everything But The House
one of my go to shopping sites for myself and for clients. 

I have bought quite a few things from Everything But The House
including this, this, thesethese and these
Once you set up an account with EBTH, you can easily follow items you are interested in.
Here are a few things I am currently following. 


Here are a few of my favorites that that have sold recently. 


Now, for the fun part.  In addition to a $30 credit to Everything But The House
I am offering a free room design board, using an item you choose from Everything But the House. 

Here is an example of a master bedroom design I recently completed.
I donated a one hour consultation and a free room design board to a silent auction for a local charity.
After meeting with the homeowners and getting a sense of their style, needs and wants, 
this is what I came up with.




You can enter the giveaway here.....

11.12.2014

EVERYTHING BUT THE HOUSE & AN OFFICE MAKEOVER

A few months back, one of my favorite shopping sites, 
Everything But The House, reached out to me about working together.  
I have been buying from this online estate sale site for a couple of years now.  
So naturally, I jumped at the chance to partner with them.
They generously offered me a credit toward any item that was currently listed. 

I finally settled on these four Visual Comfort sconces. 
You can buy brand new ones here
I ended up paying less for all four than the price of one new sconce.
I do wish they were the Hand Rubbed Antique Brass finish.
Dare I break out the rub n' buff?  Maybe I'll do a little  test spot on the back to see how it looks.


As soon as I saw them, I began scheming an office/den makeover. 

Ever since I came across this image on Pinterest, I have become obsessed with this look. 
The gorgeous den designed by Meredith Heron is perfect in every way, 
right down to the sweet little dog pictured. 



This is the current state of the office/den.
(Well, sort of, it's not nearly this neat right now and I have switched out the desk chair)


An electrician is coming tomorrow to take out the recessed lights and install three of the visual comfort sconces at the top of the built-ins, just below where the recessed lights are now.

Just for fun, here is what the office looked like just before we closed on the house. 


The cabinets are getting a coat of hi-gloss BM Lead Gray 
(the same color used in Merideth Heron's den).
The crown molding, baseboards, and window moldings are also getting a coat of lead gray.
The walls will get a flat finish of the same color. 
I am hoping to get rid of the "shutter doors" on the base cabinets 
and have something more simple made.

I have been on the hunt for a new rug for this space. 
Right now, I have a 5x8 rug in here.  I am looking for something a little larger.

The paint should be here tomorrow and I'll be getting started this weekend. 
I am looking forward to having some progress shots to show you next week. 
Be sure to check back tomorrow for a fun giveaway from Everything But The House.